Oxy’s majority interest in the giant Elk Hills Field in Kern County is a key factor in our position as California’s largest natural gas producer and largest oil and gas producer on a gross operated barrels of oil equivalent basis. Located in the southern portion of the San Joaquin Valley, Elk Hills — a former U.S. National Strategic Petroleum Reserve — is one of the largest oil and natural gas fields in the United States.

The Elk Hills business unit exemplifies Oxy’s focus on acquiring large, long-lived properties and, by applying advanced recovery techniques, continuing to increase production in mature fields. Additionally, Occidental has acquired properties adjacent to the Elk Hills Field, which are presently undergoing development.

Since acquiring the Elk Hills Field from the U.S. government in 1998, the Oxy Elk Hills business unit’s combined cumulative production is over 460 million net BOE with production coming from both conventional and unconventional resources. Cumulative production since 1998 plus remaining proven reserves are double the original acquisition proved reserves.

We have customized a range of recovery processes to the Elk Hills Field’s complex reservoirs, transforming this long-producing asset into the No. 1 producer of natural gas and natural gas liquids in California. The proven technology used at the Elk Hills Field has been transferred to the acquired adjacent properties, which are benefiting with increased production.

The start of Oxy’s California shale program was at the Elk Hills business unit. Building on more than a decade of knowledge and expertise gained in producing from Elk Hills’ Field’s shale zones, we are continuing to expand the program to additional Oxy properties.

In 2010, the California Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) awarded Elk Hills with Outstanding Lease Award for leases at its Elk Hills Oil Field. The business unit has also been recognized for outstanding environmental stewardship by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Department of Conservation, the California Climate Action Registry, the Wildlife Habitat Council and other organizations. Elk Hills’ environmental programs and initiatives include the preservation of endangered species habitats, emissions reduction, waste minimization and recycling, and cultural resource preservation.